


Bewitched

by Jelaine_The_First



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Action, Angst by the end, But I probably failed, Graphic?, M/M, Medieval, Witch AU, attempted humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 10:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13164588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jelaine_The_First/pseuds/Jelaine_The_First
Summary: "Father." A pair of golden eyes looked up to him. "How did you and Judal meet?"





	Bewitched

**Author's Note:**

> Whew it's been a while. School has been crazy. Life, in fact, was especially merciless on us all this year. X'D ./silently cries
> 
> Anyways, I will try to get more Sinju going since it's been a little silent since Magi had ended. LET'S SPREAD THE SINJU LOVE.

He sat there cross-legged, eyeing the brew he had in the large melting pot which emanated a poison mist. The witch took precaution not to inhale the hazardous gas, lest he'd be the one kissing the ground soon. His nimble fingers unlocked the window beside him, and slung it outwards so the atmosphere in the room won't be as stuffy. The mist wafted towards the nearby trees and turned it to black, rendering it more useless from its previous dead state. 

The witch stood up and snatched a book from a shelf. Fingers flipping page by page without the urge to stare at one sentence for more than a second. His legs walked towards the cage he has at a corner of his hut. The cage was rusty; wild roots and weed gliding up its bars, dirty soil smudged the base, and inside, a lofty woman resided. 

"Ah, what a pitiful state you're in," jestered Judal. The woman sat on the ground, her legs on both sides, her long gown torn and dirty, her silky pink hair in disarray. She looked up to him and spat a mouthful of insults. 

"You shall not get away with this. My father will send his army and tear down this sorry hut. He will torture you and tear your limbs apart, and you will scream, scream until your voice gave ou--" 

A splash of cold water stopped her sentence. She jolted backwards at the sudden sprinkle and completely forgot her carefully arranged spiteful comments. 

Judal clicked his tongue several times and wiggled his finger in disagreement. "Such words are very unbecoming of a princess, Serendine. If I were you, I'd watch my mouth." The book closed with a small 'pop' and Judal waved a finger in front of his face. Serendine can see a white fog clustering in front of the cage and all of a sudden, a needle of ice shot right next to her face, missing her cheek by a breeze. Her heart almost stopped. 

"Damn, I missed," cursed him. He walked towards Serendine and bent down, looking closer at the princess' face. "But next time I'll make sure I got that leech in your mouth you call tongue." 

He stood back up and turned his back on her, strolling over to the shelf of books the Witch Academy has provided him. Behind Judal, the princess sobbed in despair. She should've never passed that barrier the witch erected, but her curiousity got the better of her. Now she's trapped, and can only wait for a hero to come save her. 

* * *

The hunter slashed the last remaining obstacle in front of him with his machete, and later discovered he had arrived at the witch's hut. A modest size, if he can say so himself, fitting for one person living alone in the forest, but the problem was it wasn’t occupied with a single soul anymore; It was two. And Sinbad can't let that continue. 

He was promised a large sum of money by King Ceylan, Princess Serendine's brother, should he succeed in rescuing her from the witch's grasp, and if he fancy, perhaps marrying her to him. Sinbad wasn’t one to be fond of granted titles. If he wants to be a king, he will strive to be one himself, with no help from royal blood. The offer somehow disgusted him, but he'll refuse if it ever comes to that. Now, his priority was to escape with the princess first. 

He sheathed his weapon and took a step towards the hut. The surrounding trees were black, almost like coal. It'd be the perfect bonfire if he decided to burn things up. Even the hut was mostly made up of flammable materials. He silently planned to kill the witch if the old hag ever fights back. 

"Go away," said a voice not far from where he stood. He looked at the entrance of the hut and saw the most beautiful demonic creature he'd ever laid his eyes upon. The figure was clad in thin black robe, slit at the front, revealing the witch in nothing but… tight shorts? Sinbad swallowed as he saw the fair skin sitting beneath that thin black cloth, almost shining its way out. 

"Hey." That voice interrupted his wandering eyes. "My eyes are up here." 

When his eyes met with that pair of striking red eyes, he felt himself froze in place. There's something about this beauty that was… bewitching. 

Thin fingers came forward and started snapping to call Sinbad back to earth. "HEY!" 

Sinbad finally snapped out of his trance with an 'ah'. "M-my apologies," said him stuttering. 

"You shouldn’t let your guard down in front of a witch." 

The rubbing hand on his neck stopped its motion. Sinbad took the chance to scan the witch again. She -- or he actually -- didn’t look as old as the tales he'd heard growing up. He looked so young, but again, maybe the witch had casted a magic on himself to look as beautiful as he did in younger days. 

"Where is the princess?" asked him as he finally collected himself. 

"Somewhere in there." Judal pointed at a spot in his house with his pursed lips. "You don't intend to just rush in and grab her while ignoring me, right? Because that'd be so stupid." 

Sinbad's surprised face answered Judal's question. The witch facepalmed and a frustrated groan esaped his lips. "Just when I thought the amount of morons would decrease by the years…" 

He barred Sinbad's way with his thin arm, his long braid waved to the jerking movement. "Trials, young man. You shall not take the princess unless you passed my trials." 

"Well then." Sinbad crossed his arms over his chest. "Give away your conditions so I can pass it already and be on my merry way." 

Judal smirked. "When's the last time somebody voiced that confidence in front of me? Oh, right, that one blonde adventurer." He stepped out of his hut and shut the door behind him. "You know what happened to him? Ja'far ate him and leave nothing behind. Boy, it was a relief to see him quiet. He just kept yammering and yammering and I swear if he defeated that dragon and stayed alive, I will sew his mouth shut." 

He signaled Sinbad to come closer and the man complied without a word. 

"The conditions are simple: Stay alive." Judal took a step forward and touched Sinbad's chest. Hard muscles were felt under his fingers. Not long afterwards, a glow manifested on the spot where Judal touched, and Sinbad panicked. 

"Relax," told him. "It's only a cheap bargain. In case you run away from the trial, your youth will belong to me." At the end of the sentence, Sinbad saw a glint of smile on Judal's pink lips. So that's how he was able to stay pretty… 

Did he just say this witch was _pretty_? 

* * *

White scales shone under the sun's strong rays. The shine almost blinded Sinbad if he hadn't shield his eyes from it. The dragon was huge. From in between his sharp teeth, faint steam escaped free, and Sinbad concluded that it encased the ability to breath fire. The dragon bore a horrendous look; Seven horns neatly stacked on each other on its head, with eyes of olive and and some shade of moss green at its chest, claws and the end of its tail, which forked to seven ways. The creature stomped towards Sinbad's direction, and the earth shook with every step it took. Sinbad gulped. 

This stuff better be worth the princess. 

When the dragon -- he was thus informed it was named Ja'far -- spotted Sinbad standing in its core area, with a crooked machete in hand, he roared in rage. Normal adventurers usually turns their tails, or people who tried to as much as touch it were safely swallowed and be in memories forever. Sinbad was obviously no ordinary man, as he grew up in a forest with his parents, learnt hunting since the day he started walking, and most of all, is the main character of this AU. 

Sinbad dashed towards the dragon and parried a lot of its slashes with careful misdirection, and took great attention to its fiery breath because if not, he's toast. The attacks were powerful; It was fair considering its size, and goddamn Solomon with a coconut, the dragon is freaking swift! It's as if it can make a hurricane just by its attacks alone, and Sinbad can see his fatigue growing greater as he fought. He panted as one of his knee touched the ground, affected by tire. 

Sinbad has some stamina. Some, but not much. He was 30% brawn and 70% brain, and he knew he can't keep fighting like this forever. He looked at the nearby pond, created by Judal to quench the dragon's thirst, and some vegetations that live around it. He got his answer. 

The land on where they were fighting currently was spacious, dusty and barren, almost like a wasteland. Sinbad lured the mighty creature towards the pond, and when he has arrived, he calculated his moves and trapped the dragon in between the long leaves and trees, all of them tangling up at its forearms and restraining it successfully. Now the dragon has no other options but to use his breath of flame! 

But nope, Sinbad almost forgot about the huge tail swishing around and slapping whatever it came across, and it nearly costed him his head, but still thank his father for his godly dodging abilities, only a few strands of hair were spent. 

When Sinbad thought he would get another slap from the tail, he sensed hot breath from the dragon and immediately jumped into the pond before the flames could cateurize him. The fire died out once it kissed the surface, safely stowing Sinbad away in its waters. The man stayed in the water for more than a minute, and the dragon grew suspicious if Sinbad had died in there. It moved its nose closer to the pond on an attempt to smell any signs of life, before Sinbad jumped out and splashing his eyes with water and sand. With a massive jolt backwards, the white dragon screamed from the top of its lungs, scrambling with its restrained hands and trying to get the sand out of its eyes. 

The movements grew more frantic, and after some time, the dragon gave up as it shed some tears of pain. Its head crashed on the ground, its scales now a dirty mess. Sinbad made a quick work of tying up its mouth with a stray vein from the forest and stabbed on both of the dragon's eyes. The dragon roared again but with lacking ire, this time muffled by the tightness around its mouth and the waning strength. Sinbad decided to put an end to its life, and proceed to slash his way into the chest and chewed on the heart mercilessly with his machete. 

Minutes passed and the dragon named Ja'far went dead silent. Blood gushed out of its open wound and eye sockets. It's almost pitiful to see the grand and mighty dragon reduced to such a state. Sinbad spared a few moments to pray for him and carried its bloody heart in a sack, bringing it back to the witch. 

* * *

The noon went higher in the sky. Judal had the mind to wait for Sinbad, but the sun was burning deep into his scalps that he ran away to find shade at the porch. He didn’t forget to fetch a book to spend his time, and as the time withered away and soft crakling noise of wood burning underneath his pot of poison became a lullaby, Judal found himself closing his eyes sleepily. He stripped the black robe, spread it on the ground and leaned against the hut's cold wooden wall. To prevent from sitting on his braid, he slung it over his shoulder and let some wild curly strands tickle his white skin. A few moments later, Judal was snoring softly, and the midday breeze cooled down his sweating forehead. 

At the barren yard not far from there, Sinbad dragged the sackful of heart with much difficulties. Thorns and grass stuck on his hair and made a horrible resemblance of a Christmas tree on the purple ponytail. When he caught a glimpse of the hut from far away, he had never been so happy. The very little strength he had left was multiplied. Brawling with that dragon took a huge toll on him, both in stamina and literal sense. 

He saw the witch sprawled over at a shaded bower with his robe detached, and Gosh, the display was almost sinful. Apparently the witch had worn thigh high boots since God knows when but they only made Sin question his reason of coming there. The thump of his heart grew louder as he stared on the milky white skin and settled on a dark nipple, where Sinbad wished he could've slapped himself. Had he been a weaker man, he'd be wrapping his body with that wavy dark hair and worshipping that witch's body with his mouth… 

A voice from those pretty lips jolted Sinbad. The man rubbed his face and took a deep breath. What has awashed within him just now? 

Meanwhile, Judal stirred for a second before waking up, feeling sore from sleeping while sitting. He stretched his body and yawned, before realizing that the hunter, man, whatever, was next to him with a bloody sack stowed behind his legs. "Oh, you're back." 

Sinbad straightened himself up when he saw the witch. He shoved the sack forward and said, "Here, a proof that I killed that dragon." 

Judal only scowled his face in disgust. "Wha--Why are you giving it to me? Go bury it somewhere!" 

The hunter raised a brow. "I thought you could use this in one of your concoctions…Or am I wrong?" 

"Puh-lease, using a fresh heart like that only knocks you unconscious in the process. Potency increases with the age of the material, so you will have to cure it long enough before it can be used." Judal covers his nose as the wind knocked Sinbad's odor on his direction. "Get rid of that heart before bacteria swarms my house, and get yourself a bath, sheesh. You stink of dragon shite." 

With leisure steps, he moved to the door before Sinbad called him. "Hey! My house is not exactly near this place. I almost got lost getting to this part of the forest." 

Judal gave him a bored look. "So you're saying I should give you some hospitality?" 

"What? No I--" 

"Fine! Come in and take a bath. Don't let your eyes wander around too much or you'll regret it." 

Sinbad was hesitant on following the witch, but when he raised his arm, the smell of his body nearly knocked him out cold. He grasped the witch's offer without second thoughts. 

* * *

"So where is this place you're taking me?" 

"Hell." 

Silence crept in between them. 

"Am I defeating another creature again?" 

"Yes." 

The day reached the end and painted the sky a pretty hue of purple and red. The flying broom flew past the lush forest into a rocky terrains. Walls of stones glared orangish red as it reflected the color from horizon. Judal drove the broom forward with his wind magic, Sinbad sitting close behind him as a passenger. During the whole journey, the well-known hunter kept trying to make a conversation with Judal but he got shot off with one-worded replies each time. Nevertheless, Sinbad didn’t give up. 

"Is it a garuda?" 

"No." 

"Manticore?" 

"Nope." 

"A chimera?" 

"Nu-uh." 

"Perhaps an angel, like you?" 

The broom slowed down, and at one point it just stopped and floated mid-air, with Judal's sharp glare settled on Sinbad's charming smile. 

"Shut up." 

The journey resumed with Sinbad's small chuckle echoing away in the loud gush of wind. Judal looked back forward to make sure he got the location correctly pinpointed. The day had already set and the night settled in, and it could cost trouble if they were lost during the night. 

"Your hair is really beautiful." 

Judal only hummed, trying to avoid talking with Sinbad at all costs. 

"It must be hard to take care of it." 

He hummed again. 

"Is…that… a silver strand I see?" 

The broom stopped immediately and Sinbad almost fell forward at the sudden halt. After he had balanced himself, he saw Judal frantically searching for the silver strand of hair he mentioned earlier. "Where? Where is it?" The nimble fingers browsed every strand of hair he can lay a finger on, trying desperately to pluck the hair out. 

The witch's reaction was so animated, it amused Sinbad. "On second thought, it must be the moonlight," jested him, grinning. 

Judal felt utterly _fooled_. He later turned back forward complete with an angry huff, planning to ignore Sinbad's banter for the rest of the trip. 

"There's also something on your face." 

Judal rolled his eyes. "A silver strand again?" 

"No, it's called beauty." 

A level stare settled on Sinbad, and before he knew it, Sinbad's back kissed the ground harshly as a thin limb pushed him off the broom. 

"OW!" shouted Sinbad. He sat upright, groaning at the stinging pain behind him. "What's the big idea?!" 

"Free ride ends here. You will have to find the way uphill yourself!" sang Judal with a cheeky smile. The broom whooshed into the darkness of the night, leaving Sinbad alone on the ground. If someone scrutinized hard enough, they can see a faint blush on the witch's fair cheeks. 

* * *

After one hour of climbing the vertical rock wall, Sinbad was met with a pair of scarlet eyes once he reached the top. 

"Took you long enough," said Judal, bored of waiting. 

With an annoyed look as a reply to the witch, Sinbad spoke with indignance, "shut up." 

Judal turned his back to Sinbad and walked over to an empty and broken arena. The wind swept the dusty floor with gusto, and Sinbad had to blink a few times to wipe the sand off his eyes. 

"What am I taking down this time?" asked him curious. 

The braid waved back and forth with the wind as Judal stayed silent to Sinbad's question. Instead, he pointed at a creature sitting comfortably next to a small cave. The bonfire radiated heat towards the seemingly intelligent monster with buffalo features. 

"That." 

The creature later stood up… on two feet, and walked towards Judal. Oh, a minotaur. It later revealed a row of red fur on top of its head, with a piercing under its thick lips, and a gold armor covering its torso. 

"Hey, Masrur," greeted Judal when the minotaur in front of him, looking ready to receive instructions. "Fight this guy." 

The minotaur nodded as of a normal person would, and it creeped Sinbad out. Frankly speaking, the minotaur is acting more human than Judal himself. 

They both moved to the open arena and switched into their battle stances, while Judal took a place far away from there to witness the fight. Sinbad unsheathed his father's sword, swung it a few times to get used to it, and looked back at the mythical being: Masrur stretched his shoulders for a while and huffed a few rough breaths, before getting into a stance unfamiliar to Sinbad. 

Before he could react, Sinbad was thrown to the side by the sheer wind that knocked him. His body tumbled over on the floor, covering his clothes with dust. He coughed several times and got up, and saw Masrur at his previous spot. 

_Damn, he's fast AND strong._

Sinbad straightened his stance, replaced his shocked face with a nervous smirk, and challenged Masrur with his eyes. He can sense his adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream at this very moment. It's a fight or flight, and he'll be damned if he escaped from this testosterone-filled fight. 

Masrur's right hand glowed red, steaming and throbbing, as if he just punched something so hard. _Ah, so that's what it was._

The fight continued, without no luck on Sinbad's side. He kept tumbling on the ground, either from barely evading his attacks or getting thrown around. Thank God, no bones of his were broken yet. Probably not yet, since this minotaur was more than capable to do that from the very start, and thinking that the red-haired creature was merely giving him mercy pissed him off to no end. 

If he doesn't think of something soon, this minotaur will grow bored and perhaps just smash his body to bits. Since he's physically unable to defeat it with his current strength, he tried to talk to him instead. "Hey!" shouted him. 

The minotaur stopped all his actions and looked at Sinbad with curious eyes. 

"Are you trapped in here by the witch?" 

The creatures ears flapped, his eyes blinked. Nobody had ever asked him a question before, considering their mentality determined Masrur was incapable of understanding what they say. Sinbad is something indeed. 

"I could lend you a hand in escaping, if that's what it is." 

Masrur's eyes turned soft. He dissolved his fighting stance and stood up naturally. "It's not what it looks like, human." 

Sinbad's eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets at the shock. So the creature can talk… 

"O-oh? Then what is it? Why do you do everything he bids?" 

The furry strong legs stepped closer to Sinbad without any intimidation, and sat down. "I was cursed by a witch for my father's sins, and I grew up like this. My village despised me for my ugly exterior, until at one point they started to harass me with their pitchforks and torches and drove me out of my own house." 

Sinbad's sword lowered and lowered as he listened to the minotaur's story, until the tip of the sword kissed the ground. At the contact, Sinbad pulled it back up and sheathed it back to its cover. "What happened then?" 

"The black witch decided to curse me once he saw me crossing his barriers, but one cannot overwrite a curse from other witches, so he confined me at this place instead." At the end of the story, Sinbad was confused. "Thus you felt obliged to pay him back by lending him your strength?" 

"He gave me a place to stay, human," said the minotaur,firm. "Not even my villagers allowed me that luxury, and I am thankful to the black witch." 

"Still!" denied Sinbad in anger. "You killed the people he sent to you!" 

" _Who said I killed them_?" 

His eyes widened in shock. "Then where were the other hunters who came to you?" 

"The black witch turned them into monsters you fought." 

Sinbad's stomach nearly dropped. 

"You guys killed your own people without knowing it, without hesitance and remorse." Masrur looked away in disgust. " **Pitiful**." 

Sinbad was so shocked, he forgot to breath. It's little wonder Judal has a name for every creature they met. They all used to be humans. And to think he had slashed down a lot of them… His bile climbed up to his throat, solely by guilt-ridden feelings. 

* * *

Judal yawned for the nth time. The night has crept on for too long, it's almost dawn. What's taking Masrur so long? He wasn't hoping for that red-headed bull to kill them, because he never did, which was why Judal turned them into mythical monsters the people feared. He simply laughed when the people strike them down without any second thoughts. They kept blabbing about deadly creatures out of villages and towns, but they didn't realize that the scariest monster of all was the people themselves. It became an entertainment for Judal, waiting in the shadows to see their reaction when they stumbled upon that fact in the future. 

He scrutinized his vision once he saw the hunter walked away from the arena, with the minotaur following behind. Puzzled, he flew to the land and stood angrily, hand on his hips, in front of them. "Wait wait wait, where do you think you're going?" 

Sinbad's steps were barred with the witch, and he sent Judal a confident smirk. "I have Masrur on my side now, so in a way, _I won_." 

The witch bit his lower lips, furious of the outcome. "No! I don't approve of this! You are mine!" shouted him while pointing a finger at Masrur. 

"I was never your belonging, kind witch." 

"I TOOK YOU IN!" His tone cranked up a notch. "And I am not kind. I am a witch, and if I'm not feeling up to it, you peasants would be dead by now," breathed him enough for them to sense the venom. His eyes glared red towards Sinbad. "AND YOU! You think you're so big, saving a princess, killing a dragon, and taming a minotaur, and yet you have no inkling as to what the real problem is! You are just the same as the other hunters who came to me!" 

The hunter was befuddled upon the witch having a bitch fit, but he remained calm despite being spat upon shout after shout. 

"People in those villages just stand there when someone accused my parents being witches, and what did they do? _They burn them, in front of the 3 year-old me_. And that's not enough, they even turned to me afterwards, saying I was most probably born of witchcraft. Blasphemous to the bones, I'd say. They are born with horseshit for brains, and then caused nothing but trouble for people like me!" He stomped towards Sinbad angrily. "You are enabling them in every single thing you've done, not knowing what you will cause to my life. They chose me to be the black sheep, point fingers at me everytime something goes wrong, and you grow up with that, I don't blame you. What I'm furious about is… I don't know! They made me like this! Why me? Why not the other kids? WHY ME?!" 

A hug from Sinbad stopped Judal from his meltdown. The witch was too surprised to say anything, and he felt a hand caressed his head from behind. 

"I'm sorry." 

His hot breath hitched in between Sinbad's article of clothing. The embrace felt warm. When was the last time he was hugged? "C-cut this shit out! I don't want sympathy from nobody!" 

"I'm really sorry it happened to you." Sinbad pulled back from the hug, looking pained and guilty, and the witch was baffled by it. He wasn't at fault. None of this is his fault. 

It didn't take long before tears crept up to Judal's eyes and spilled down his cheeks, his mouth still agaped from the inability to comprehend what he's feeling, and he was pulled into another warm hug. From there, he can only whimper laced with sobbings. 

* * *

"Stop gawking, morons," said the witch as he trot behind Sinbad, Masrur stomping lightly behind him. Sinbad hid his snicker by facing forward, but the minotaur didn't even try to hide his lopsided smile. "I know my swollen eyes don't look good so you shut your holes or I'll shut it for you." 

The hunter slowed down so he can walk side by side with the witch. "Don't worry, you still look pretty." 

Judal's steps slowed down. Blush spread through his cheeks like stardusts. Sinbad formed the sincerest charming smile at him and he bloomed a deeper shade of blush. "I'm a man," denied him half-heartedly. 

"So?" Sinbad instantly replied. "A man can't be pretty?" 

He grumbled at that question, wanting to shout 'NO' to that cheeky hunter but he can't deny that he liked being called beautiful. 

When they arrived back at the witch's hut, it was already noon, and everyone were beyond exhausted, other than Masrur. Judal was planning to send everyone back outside of the forest as soon as he can, in fact he'd gladly teleport them all outside, just to have some time alone to sleep and snack on his beloved peaches, but when he saw the cage door was opened, his fatigue dispersed and panic settled in. 

"Hunter!" called him as he ran outside, and he proceed to pull him by the collars. "Did you sneak behind my back and released the princess?!" 

"What?" 

"She's not in there!" He pointed at the empty cage in his house. "I sealed it with magic! I locked it with my blood! There was no way she could've escaped!" 

"Then why are you asking me?" asked Sinbad again, more puzzled as the pull tightened around his neck. "I was with you the whole time." 

Doused with unanswered questions and anger, he released Sinbad from his grip and walked around the house. There might be traces left by her when she left, and she couldn't have gone far. He ruled the forest. 

But it's weird. There's nothing. None at all. She can't be human if she didn't even leave a footstep. 

"Masrur!" 

The minotaur looked at the witch. 

"Can you smell her?" 

His ears flapped and his nose twitched at that question. "I don't know what she smells like." 

He almost pulled his face off at the frustration. Of course Masrur didn't know, he was never here. He walked in circles and groaned, boiling inside like a volcano. 

"However, I do smell a sharp stink heading its way over here." The buffalo head turned to a direction and didn't move an inch. "It reeks of trouble." 

Sinbad was extremely confused as to what was unfolding in front of him, but seeing the witch's scared reaction, it was enough to send him shivers. The cocky Judal was now staring wide-eyed on the sky, as if waiting for a something more terrifying than him to come down. 

A silhouette of a lady came towards the three, and she smiled. 

"Princess Serendine?" 

The princess, not in her tattered clothes anymore, beamed at Sinbad, but her smile melted away as she spotted the minotaur and the witch. 

"Are you not with me, hunter?" 

"Pardon?" 

She took a step forward menacingly. "I said, are you not on my side?" 

"Yeah, of course!" Sinbad looked around to see what gave her the idea of him being on the opposing side. _Oh_. 

"No, do not misunderstand! He held my youth in his hands until I finished all his trials, then he will give it back and set you free," explained Sinbad. 

"Hence you went around playing with his toys while I was caged like a beast?!" Sinbad stuttered upon answering. He surely did take his sweet time with all the trials, even had the grace to flirt with the witch, while the princess was holed up in the hut, probably starving and near death. "I'm sor--" 

"--How the fuck did you get out?" asked Judal. 

An eyebrow raised in between pink strands of hair. "I made a pact." 

Judal knew where this was going but he needed confirmation. "With whom?" 

Serendine smirked, content with the fear showing on the witch's face. "You know whom." 

He gasped. 

"Who is it?" asked Sinbad curious. 

"She…" Judal licked his dry lips once, nervous and panicking subsiding within him. "She made a pact with a demon." 

"Zepar," uttered Serendine from the other side of the yard. "He heard my cries and decided to help me with an exchange of a life-long blood oath." 

"Crazy bitch." Judal chuckled while hiding his face underneath his witch hat. "How the fuck do you open that lock? I sealed it with my own blood." 

"Ah." Her face turned somber and later revealed a faint pleased smile. "I used your blood too." 

Hard gasp came across his face. "Fucking cunt," cursed him under his breath. "You sentenced yourself into death row and dragged me down with you?!" A black staff manifested out of thin air, and Judal grabbed it without looking, hands trained and automatic. 

"You're the one who started it, you conniving swine." Serendine's appearance began to change to resemble a female attached to a big black spider's abdomen. 

The two fought silently with their stare for half a minute. Meanwhile, Masrur egged on Sinbad to step aside to avoid getting caught in between them, but Sinbad stubbornly stayed. 

"I need to see this," said the hunter. 

"What?" 

"From both their perspectives, they don't consider themselves wrong." His eyes glimmered at the unfolding battle; One can sense the eerie feeling of adrenaline with goosebumps growing on their skin. "I want to see whose side has a stronger conviction." 

Serendine took a leap forward with a black sword, targeting Judal's torso, but the sword's edge chipped on a clump of dirt as he vaulted over her thanks to his wind magic. His black staff slashed a wound behind Serendine's spider section, and the gaping wound emitted a trail of green fluid. She screamed an inhumane voice. 

Judal quickly hopped a step back to give himself some safe space. He smirked. "You might look powerful, but you're bloody slow." 

The princess's face scrunched up in anger. Her eyes splashed black and her mouth grew fangs. Her body glowed a scary blue. "I would do anything to kill anyone who stepped on my dignity!" Another roar came from her. It echoed throughout the whole forest. 

"What dignity?" Judal rolled his eyes. "You're overthinking it. Not all royal bloods started royal because they have a special gene. Your ancestors worked hard to be a king, and yet you're here being a spoiled little princess, yammering on and on about your dignity being stepped on." He put his hands on his hips. "Honestly, if I am a king, I would throw you into a dungeon and see if you can survive and earn the respects of people. Let's see how you fare from there." 

A slash from one of the spider legs almost beheaded him but he dodged it right before it could touch him. He danced a few steps back, yet the spider woman kept lacerating whatever's in front of her. It's almost like she's losing her mind. In the end, Judal gave up on trying to reason with her. One of the cuts nearly amputated his beautiful legs. He quickly activated his floating magic to run away from her. "Crazy bitch is nuts," muttered him in between panicked pants. Seconds after, he put on a satisfied smile. "See? What a monster." 

"Shut up!" screamed her from the ground. "All you ever do is cause trouble for the people around you and you dared to point that blood-soaked finger on me?" 

Judal's face turned solemn. "Yes, I did kill the lot who accused me of something I never did," said him. "Even if I said the truth, they wouldn't believe me. Why not just prove to them that I really am what they speculated?" 

The words stung Sinbad. He used to be one of them, judging people without knowing them. Deep inside, he felt sorry for Judal, but at the same time, the witch also had admitted upon his actions. Something had to be done before this fight goes any further. 

"Masrur." 

The buffalo head turned to him, his red hair rustled at the movement. "How far can you jump?" 

The fight wasn't long. Partially because Serendine's borrowed power wasn't hers and it was taking a toll on her mortal body, and also partially because Judal's body itself didn’t contain much stamina from the very beginning. They both stood at their positions, panting hard and casting death glares at each other. 

Serendine's body had lost its shape. What was standing in front of Judal now was only a mess of black blobs with fangs and slanted eyes, like a demon's innards made flesh. Sinbad almost threw up at the sight. A pact with demons never ends well. 

On the other side, Judal's robe was detached and scratches peppered his fair skin. His hair was left undone after a few rigorous dodging from the deadly attacks. 

A spider's limb was lifted, and Serendine shrieked, too otherworldly for someone who used to be a human. Judal gave a sympathetic look on her. She's too far gone. 

However, this creature was still up for killing and has unlimited stamina. Judal has to think of something before he is defeated by the lack of strength, totally something worth putting on the Hall of Shame. 

In a blink, Serendine was in front of him, latching her disgusting abdomen onto him while a part of her throbbed red. His eyes grew wide and his hands tried to pry open the clutching nails of the spider, but he failed. And that red thing didn’t bode well. It was as if his head was awashed with déjà vu, Judal started to panick and pushing the body away, this time with more effort. The pulsing crimson inside her could mean something dangerous. 

A figure settled beside him and tried to tear the spider away from him. Judal looked up to find Sinbad panicking as much as him. "What are you doing?!" 

"Saving you?!" 

"I can do this myself, moron!" The nails raked a fresh wound on his ribs and he groaned in pain. "Run away!" 

"No!" 

"Stop being stubborn! You could die!" shouted him angrily. Sinbad's stubbornness drove him furious. 

Nevertheless, the hunter didn't know why he's risking his life to save the mean witch. Shouldn't he be saving the princess instead? He looked at the black creature, its legs were one by one detached from Judal. 

_It's not Princess Serendine anymore._

"For those who I can yet save," said Sinbad in between struggles. Just as the last leg was detached from Judal's torn skin, the red bubbling anger inside Serendine exploded. Poisonous mist and green liquid splashed throughout the whole yard. Holes were formed on Judal's hut as the acidic secretion chewed on them. Smokes rose from the scene and somewhere in the air, a minotaur was seen jumping from a big tree to another. In his hands were Sinbad and Judal, the latter screaming in pain as skinless toe dripped blood and came in contact with air. 

"This is all your fault!" screamed him, a single tear spotted at the edge of his reddening eye. He sniffed. "If I just die, I wouldn’t have to feel any pain." 

The urge to counter his remarks were undoubtedly huge for Sinbad, but he's in no condition to construct a sarcastic reply at the moment. "Masrur." Sinbad pat Masrur's furry muscular arms. The minotaur landed on a small empty land and looked at him. 

"Go straight east from here until you see a small castle. My healer Yamraiha will be there waiting." 

Masrur nodded and resumed his journey, making sure he's rushing as fast as possible without hurting Judal. 

"Where are you taking me?" asked him with dry heaving sounds. His injured foot was starting to feel numb. He wanted to simply chop it off so the pain would stop bothering him. 

"You're coming back with me to my castle." 

"You're a king?!" 

"Not particularly." He instantly replied. "Yes, it is my dream to create my own country, and yes, I am still working towards on becoming a king, but no, there's no country nor a king yet. But you know…" He gave Judal a knowing glance. "I'll take you in as my citizen. You can now live with everybody else and me, in fact, I'll make you my Magi." 

His scowl was replaced with shock, and his pains be damned. "Wait, are you kidnapping me?!" 

"Eh… When you say it like that…" 

* * *

"Woah!" Alibaba's eyes gleamed upon listening to Sinbad's tale. "So does that mean me and Aladdin come from you two?" 

Sinbad was made speechless by the sheer accusation from Alibaba. "N-no, Judal is still a man, and two men cannot make a baby together." 

"But you two sleep in the same bedroom?" 

"That's… a story for when you're older, my dear. Now keep your voice down so your brother won't wake up." Sinbad leaned down and gave the ten-years old blonde a soft forehead kiss. "Goodnight, my brave warrior." 

"Goodnight, father." Alibaba snuggled underneath the blankets and soon joined his brother in slumberland. King Sinbad picked up the candle and closed the door, making as little noise as possible. He strolled in between the chambers, enjoying the breeze of midnight jungle blowing in the open hallway. Sinbad stopped at an open window and set down the saucer of candle. The tiny flame was soon put out by the gentle sweep of the wind. In the darkness, moonlight's glow rained upon his sculpted body, hid underneath the kingly garb. 

"You're still awake?" A tired voice greeted him from behind. Sinbad smiled and turned to see the pair of bright red pupils. From afar, Judal looked like a demon that emerged from the void, but years after taking him in, the whole palace grew used to it. 

"Just finished telling Alibaba about our meeting years ago." 

Judal sighed. "Did you also described Ja'far as a dragon with seven horns and breathes fire? Masrur a minotaur with a piercing?" 

Sinbad clicked his tongue. "Were you eavesdropping?" 

"That shit is all over your adventuring books you wrote. Don't pretend it's new anymore." Judal strode beside him and crosses his arms on his chest. "It has been a tiring day for the both of us, and you have a meeting early tomorrow morning. Go get some sleep." 

"Aww, you care about me. How flattering." 

"Go fuck yourself." 

"I love you too." 

Judal rolled his eyes when Sinbad tried to run after planting a kiss on his cheek. That's gotta get old someday, but he found himself enjoying the small adorations Sinbad showed. When he walked back to their chambers, he found Sinbad massaging his back a little, a sign of old age. Judal sauntered towards the bed and forged a few magic circles, all of them faded into blue mist and dissolved in Sinbad's back. The pain slowly crawled away and the king gave a sigh of relief. 

As a compensation of his blood oath with Zepar, Judal's body went through a steep health decline after the fight with Serendine. Before the demon could suck out every youth left in Judal, Sinbad took the chance to form a pledge with Zepar, that he may reside in Sinbad and use his life force in case he wanted to manifest, in exchange of cutting his bonds with Judal. To prevent Sinbad from dying instantly like Serendine, Judal gave him back his youth little by little, which made him bore the appearance of a constantly 30 year-old bachelor but never older or younger. 

They both climbed the bed and covered themselves with blanket, hairs undone and clothes discarded. Judal turned his back on Sinbad, inching himself away so he could have his own space but a pair of arms pulled him into a warm hug. He rolled his eyes again. 

"How are you not sick of me?" 

"How are you still here and not escape?" joked Sinbad. "If ifs and buts are just that, we won't have this moment right now." 

"Go to sleep." 

Night crickets echoed in the silence of the night, and the music of rustling leaves left Judal drowsy. Behind him, Sinbad had already dozed off. In the embrace, he carefully spinned himself so he would face Sinbad. Judal studied the crease on his face, and he vaguely calculated the time he had left with the king. 

He is a witch. His job was to take youth away, not giving life to people. He is decades older than Sinbad, and someday he will wrinkle and fade away. Nobody needs to know about it, not until it happens, and he's more than glad to simply indulge in the luxury of happiness Sinbad offered. 

That night, he dreamt of a world where they can be together happily ever after, and in his sleep, Judal formed a soft smile.


End file.
